I was first introduced to glass art while living in Moose Jaw. Brenda McLaughlin, owner of M & M Glass with Class, taught classes in stained glass, and I started classes with her in September of 2006. I continued to learn much from her (and her staff) about the basics of working with art glass. After a few years, and many wonderful projects, I decided to learn about glass fusing and took a class that Brenda offered. Right away, I was in love. Fused glass offered so much more possibility for me than stained glass: more dimension, more colour, more movement, and no solder lines. I remember looking through one of her books, and wanting to try every technique I saw, and thinking up ways to modify the designs.

It was only a few years later that I had my own kiln. Once we moved to Cold Lake in 2012, I set up my own studio on our basement and have been hard at work ever since. I now have two glass kilns and a ceramics kiln in my new home studio here in Ontario.

I am still learning--new techniques, new styles, adding more mediums (such as paint) to my works. I love letting the glass flow, and then showing it off with a great edge or frame.

Nature is my inspiration-- from the way the sunlight looks on the mountainside to the veins webbed through a fallen leaf. I also get inspiration from images in my dreams.

I make functional pieces, such as plates and bowls, as well as decorative objects, like jewelry, layered glass blocks, and wall hangings.

I also offer classes/workshops out of my new home studio located near Stirling, Ontario. Please have a look at the CLASSES page or contact me if you are interested in attending a class.

Below are some of the projects I made in Brenda's classes in Moose Jaw.

about

I was born (and lived the first twenty-some years of my life) in northwest Ohio. During my college years, I moved to Columbus, Ohio and lived there for several more years before moving to Canada with my husband in 2004.

It was a bit of a shock, moving to the Prairies (Moose Jaw, SK) in early January...I had never experienced -40 C cold before! My husband is in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and we have moved many times since. I have lived in some beautiful parts of Canada, including Comox, BC, Trenton, ON, Moose Jaw, SK, and Cold Lake, AB.

Upon learning that I am American, many people ask me how I met my Canadian husband...that is a story for another time!